juz watched "slumdog millionaire" tonight.

didnt realise dat it won oscars for

cinematography (this is a clear win!), directing, best picture, film editting, sound mixing, music -song (i was surprised to find out that they incorporated chinese drums into the music. simply delightful!), music -score (only cos i think bollywood's beats r novel to the US. i do really wish Wall.E had won this instead!) and writing -adapted!

watched "changeling" wif Schua, and also Curious case of Benjamin Button

button got

make-up & visual effects. i think it wins hands down for those. 

the 166 min long movie didnt drain me as much as it did for many i know. i think i eno

changeling was such an emotionally draining one: her son's alive... no he's not... yes there is hope! sometimes we really dunno which does more harm - to hope or not. should we keep on hoping or let go and move on best as we can? can we even live without hope? 

kate winslet is a v v gracious person. i loved her thank-you speech. 

n yes i m still impressed by sean penn (with watever bits they showed on tv) tho i didnt catch "Milk"

tho there's alot of other movies i would love to catch... but i think i've spent (or wasted) enuf time already. 

i think this year's academy awards is really something. they really worked hard 2 make it different. wat i m so glad abt it was how they got past oscar winners to commend this year's nominees. the look on their faces, soaking up the affirmation, juz drummed in the message that people need encouragement no matter how "big" they are. and wat a way to do it! 

i always enjoyed watching the academy awards. maybe it fuels the performance-loving streak in me (biao yan yu). nonetheless, i also draw lessons and inspiration from it. 

the world gives out trophies and we clamour for them, but at what price? the Lord gives out lasting rewards but there's no glamour about them in this world. the world and all its glory will fade away. what is done for the Lord will last.

i m more visual than audio. (like i said on my fb: i would rather be deaf than blind) this came up in a conversation i had wif ZZ. yes i m. but sometimes i surprise myself cos i hear n remember words. sometimes shockingly well. maybe cos i LOVE quotes. and the below is one:

"i shall pass thru this world but once. any good therefore that i can do or any kindness that i can show to any human being, let me do it now. let me not defer or neglect it, for i shall not pass this way again" 

i heard this on the video tribute to Jerry Lewis (think he said it on some show n they ended his tribute vid with his voice saying this) before he came onstage to receive the jean hersholt award. i googled it and found it mostly attributed to Stephen Grellet. amazing quote. 

i got a new pair of specs. walked ard in it today. felt like the world was spinning. my eyesight deteriorated v badly.  myopia n astig increased by more than 100 degrees. sigh. changed my contact lens to the astig ones too. i didnt realise i had been straining my eyes so much and walking ard pretty "blindly". man, it's amazing how i didnt realise it at all! how can i not know?!?!

read "the shack" by Wm Paul Young. wonderful christian novel. really good writing. it's amazing to have so much theology in such a digestible form! =)  

learnt alot of things, thought thru alot of things. sorry will try shake it out of me another time... =p

i cooked laksa for mum n me tonight. it was pretty yummy. took n pic of it on mum's hp. too lazy to transfer n upload it here. had the best time interacting one on one with mum since eons. 

have been bitten by the cooking bug; have been itching to cook n try out new stuff. will really set time aside to do so. 

perhaps next weekend i'll cook fish stuffed with herbs, with cream sauce n served with olive rice balls. hmmm... n i'll start recording cooking shows. 

been fantasizing about taking leave to read, cook n paint! something like take a half year off work? hmm...yar, like i'd have anything 2 leave on.

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my white sony ericsson slide phone so died-ed-ed. i bought an ice cream - LG ice cream. rather my sis helped me get it tonight. thank you HUI! sorry for all the trouble. it's pretty n has cool lights on the front. funny dat wat i like abt it is not its cool features but that 1) it's PINK! hahah.strawberry pink. 2) it's a flip phone. no more other kinds for me! 3) it's within my budget. i refuse to pay anything above $100. 

now, it's charging n i have problem transferring my 1000+ numbers over.n it seems like my bluetooth is undetectable by it. dear me. 

if you have sms-ed or called me n i seem to not respond, pls give me 2 more days n sms/call me again k? =p

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m excited about the Alpha and the "walk thru the New Testament" courses my church is running. i pray i can get at least 1 fren 2 go for alpha. 

the next american idol's gonna b neither Caucasian nor Black. 

quoting someone:

church attendance shows how popular church is

prayer meeting attendance shows how popular God is.

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i m taking a course in a school dat shall remain unnamed. n doing my reading (the 2 textbooks of the course) left me badly disillusioned. i'm doing some cross-culture course. a christian one. for preparing missionaries. n i m so darn disappointed at how the world's ways have been used to teach the disciples of God rather than the other way round. it's a whole load of crap! i felt as if i was reading my NUS anthropology texts! m i reading a christian course?!?! academics try to infuse the world's wisdom into a Christian topic dat should be filled more with biblical principles. it's world's methods, thoughts, SOPs and the sprinklings of bible verses quoted were there to support their point. academics pumping loads of hot air into the dissertation to get some crap degree but is totally useless when held up to the Bible.  at first i thought i was being closed-minded or critical.but after reading half of the 1st tb n 1st chapter of the 2nd, i felt that i could have better used my time juz reading n gleaning from the Bible about missions and cross-culture. 

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8 years ago i said some things about Bush when he took on his 1st term as president. n i was right. 

the recession we see is not going to go away in 1 or 2 years. obama will not be able to turn it around. it will seem like he can. but it'll all crumble down like a pack of cards. US doesnt have enough money. this is the work of God allowing man to undo himself by his own greed. those are strong will fall. 

it's a time to rethink in whom we place our trust in. in a president who orates well? in a govt to put in place good policies to weather this crisis and take care of its people? has your assurance been how much you ve stashed in the bank or how well your portfolio is doing? that you are climbing the career ladder in good speed, ahead of your peers? it's also a time to question our faith. are we worrying like any other man-in-the-street who do not know God? are we as frightened as one without hope or assurance?  

God is stripping away the glory of the world. and shaking everything dat can be shaken. His word will stand. His glory shall not be given to another. isaiah 48:11. and His people, those who put their trust not in man but Him, will be saved. 

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we prayed for revival. r we ready to pay the price?